Simon
Lovell is a world-renowned close-up entertainer incredibly gifted
in the art of sleight-of-hand. His level of skill is second
only to his ability to entertain and create laughter. His talents
are especially popular at private parties and corporate functions
where he can seamlessly entertain from group to group, amazing
everybody along the way! Daniel Price has had the privilege
to speak to Simon on behalf of MagicBunny.co.uk.

How
do you break the stigma that members of the public have regarding
the use of cards for magic...how do you convince your audience
that they are viewing real magic and not some fancy sleights
of hand?? Do you find that people switch off when a pack of
cards is introduced?

Simon
Lovell: I see no stigma when I work! When I do close-up
I only use playing cards for my props so all of my effects
are card tricks. However I also spend time getting to know
the people and interacting with them before doing any magic
at all. I ask their names and remember them (VERY important),
I ask about them, their lives etc. People love to talk about
themselves and this establishes a social friendship before
any magic occurs. Card tricks are not boring, they can't be
(they are, after all only bits of cardboard, with no power
of emotional affect), but often performers of card tricks
(no readers of this I'm sure!) are boring. Establishing yourself
as a fun person means that it doesn't matter what magic you
do, it's the performer they want to see. It's critical be
make yourself the centre, not the magic. Interaction with
the audience is far more important than learning a new Flippy
Double Lift. Making your magic fun is much more important
than making it difficult.

I
tend to think of cards as a close up effect - how can a magician
effectively employ cards as part of a stage routine?

Simon
Lovell: I do two card effects in stand-up - the three
cards across and my own Sleight-of-Tongue (a very gross version
of card to mouth). When working with cards on a stage you
just need to work bigger. You also need to make sure that
the audience are aware of every aspect of what is going on.
In the three cards across the cards are treated as objects.
Values need not be seen, only how many there are. In the card
to mouth variation the card is signed "big and bold"
and I make sure everybody sees it. Because it is signed with
a blue, thick, permanent marker, even if they can't see the
value they can certainly see the signature (the blue ink stands
out much better than black or red ink). Also, I always force
a low spot red card on them (a two or four) so that the signature
stands out very clearly against the white of the card making
it very easy to see. But, again, it's not the props but the
performer that creates the entertainment!

What
support did you receive from your family in the very earliest
days of your magic ventures? Did your family stand by you
and offer to support you from the very outset or were there
persuasions to find a real job? Did you take the time and
effort to persuade your family that this was the career path
you were determined to follow?

Simon
Lovell: My family had no concept of what show business
was and tried very hard to convince me that it was a terrible
career to go into. However I knew from a very early age that
this was what I wanted to do and so they did their best to
help me along. Even not liking the career I chose they certainly
provided both emotional and, some, financial support in the
early years. It's nice now that when they see me on TV or,
as happened recently, headlining the Broadway show Monday
Night Magic in New York City (where I now live), they have
grown to be rather proud of their mad son. I'm still not sure
that they understand how anybody can make a good living from
this business though!

Suppose
you were caught on a journey without any cards and a fan of
yours came across you - what effect would YOU chose to show,
if you didn't have a deck of cards to hand?

Simon
Lovell: I wouldn't do anything. I rarely do any magic
unless I am being employed to do so. If a real fan comes along
I do have a fund of stories (some nice, some horrors) about
the career that I can entertain them with though.

What
sleight of hand would you say was the cornerstone of a good
card magician?

Simon
Lovell: Since you are using the term magician and
not performer I assume you are asking about which sleight-of
hand techniques that are the important ones. A good Double-Lift
would be right up there. Not tough to do but very tough to
fool with. I must say though that the hardest move in card
magic is simply the one you haven't practiced yet! Any move
is easy after you've practiced it enough. People say that
the Push-Off Second Deal is hard but it isn't to me, I've
been playing with it for nearly forty years! Practicing moves
till you can do them without thinking is a corner stone to
being a great magician

How
do you feel about the impact of the Internet on magicians
and do you see it as positive or negative?

Simon
Lovell: I see it as mainly negative. The explosion
of information has made secrets much easier to access and
I think this lessens their value. In my early days you had
to travel miles to get to a teacher, earn their friendship
and trust and then, and only then, be allowed to learn. Alternatively
you had to plough through manuscripts (often poorly written)
and work like a demon to make any sense of them. This gave
the work a very high value for me. Nowadays when somebody
says, "I don't want to buy a book, is it free anywhere
on the web?" I cringe. When they say, "Is it on
video or DVD instead of a book?" I feel sad. Sorry to
say but if anybody tells me they are a "visual learner"
I regard that as meaning that they are too lazy to read and
study a book. This instant "I want it now" syndrome
is responsible for a lot of very bad magic. On the plus side
there are some very good sites who try to do things in a responsible
manner - yours is one of them by the way which is why I agreed
to answer your questions!

How
do you feel about exposure? Do you see it as a threat or a
challenge?

Simon
Lovell: I see it as neither. One of the main reasons
FOX made more masked magician shows after the first one was
because of all the whining magicians made. Scheduled to be
a one-off it suddenly garnered un-thought of publicity and
so more were made. If magicians had simply laughed and said,
"nice try but that's not how we do it," the shows
would have vanished like a great trick. But, even with these
shows, people just don't remember them well. Ask a magic pal
to name all the effects exposed and they'll have trouble;
what chance does a layperson have!?

If
asked about them I just say, "Did you see any of the
things I've just shown you?" They reply, "No"
and I say, "So what they are showing are silly things,
nothing that a professional would use!" If pushed I'll
add, "Of course they don't even show the real methods,
that's just stuff they make up for the show!" At another
level I must say, again, that people choose to watch a magical
performer not so much for the tricks but for the performer
(the personality if you like)! They can expose a few crappy
tricks but they'll never be able to teach the public that
indefinable quality that makes a great performer! Exposure
has been around for over 400 years, it will carry on but so
will magic! Perhaps the dramatic drop in ratings for these
styles of shows proves that people just don't want to know
how it's done, they just want to enjoy good magic!

If
you had to be remembered for one effect in your lifetime -
which effect would it be and why?

Simon
Lovell: I'd rather be remembered for me than any
single effect though I'm pretty proud of my, often ripped
off in whole or part, straitjacket routine with the puppets
which I've been doing for over thirty years now.

Usually
those who make it to the top, such as yourself, have some
strong roots in their presentation from those who influenced
their career. This influence could be a teacher or present
and past performers who the person in question looked up to
as their skills and abilities grew and took shape. Who do
you consider to be your biggest influences in your magic,
both past and present? Who are among your favourite magicians,
both past and present?

Simon
Lovell: Big influences magically would include Ken
Pumfrey, Harry Baron, Fred Robinson, Ken Brooke, Fred Kaps,
Eric Mason, Edward Marlo, Dai Vernon and many, many more.
Non-magical influences include Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd,
Buster Keaton, Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Round the Horne,
Monty Python and more. I read widely and try to let everything
influence my performance. I will take inspiration from any
source and am always looking. I have quite a few favourite
magicians to watch so to pick any would be unfair. I just
like to watch any good magic.

Do
you have any advice for all the hobbyists out there trying
to make it to the pros?

Simon
Lovell: Unless you have a driving need to perform
in your heart and soul don't do it. Just wanting to be a professional
magician isn't enough - you have to HAVE to do it. It must
be an overwhelming need. It's a very tough business and, unless
totally driven, stick to performing at an amateur or semi-professional
level. Most of the great creative magicians of both yesteryear
(Vernon, Marlo, Jennings, Milt Kort etc etc) and of today
(Bannon, Aaranson, Wakeman, Close, Anderson etc etc) are either
amateur or part time magicians! By doing a normal job you
get to do magic when you want, not because you have to. Don't
forget also that being a pro means a lot of travelling (which
gets real boring, real quickly) and that can mean a lot of
time away from family and loved ones.

Being
a pro means giving up a lot - don't try it unless you are
really sure. If you are going to try it make sure you have
a good education to fall back on. Show business is two words
'show' and 'business' - a good business degree will be of
huge help to you. Also don't think that being good at magic
is enough – you must study character, theatre, lighting,
make-up, costumes, body language and a myriad of other things
if you are going to have a chance. I hope those answers made
some sense and that you enjoyed them!